Malerman is becoming hit n' miss for me. I enjoyed Birdbox, but didn't care for the follow-up.
Daphne is pretty decent, eventually. It's one that you have to get past the first quarter of it to really get into it.
That can turn people off, I get it. It starts as a slow build, then completes itself.
Urban Legends, Metaphors, there is some weirdness.
Give it a shot.

DNF. I'm probably not the right age group for this novel. Much more suited for those in middle to high school. Would probably make a good series for Netflix or Hulu.

Josh Malerman has typically written genre-bending stories that don't follow usual themes and tropes. In Daphne, he changes up a bit by doing his take on a vengeful ghost/urban legend tale, but still puts a unique spin on the theme. Daphne centers on a small town in Michigan that has its own bogeywoman based on something that actually happened years ago, but has the inhabitants so fearful of it they refuse to talk about it today. But whereas bogeybeings like Bloody Mary and Candyman require you to repeatedly say their name to conjure them, Daphne only needs you to think about her too much to summon her. At a local high school team's sleepover one of the girls tells the others about the legend of Daphne thinking it's just a fun scary story. But soon members of the team find they can't stop thinking about her and begin to die in gruesome fashion one by one. It's now up to a rogue cop and a troubled baller to try to stop Daphne before she kills again.
Malerman has once again written a stellar novel and told a story in a unique fashion as only he can. This is one of his best novels to date.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House/Ballantine for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.
#NetGalley #RandomHouse/Ballantine #Daphne #JoshMalerman

I wish I could give this book more than five stars. Josh Malerman is a superb writer. This one was a major departure from his usual style and I’m definitely not mad about it.
Firstly, this was the first ghost story that I’ve read by this author. Ghost stories are my very favorite type of story so I was biased from the start, to be fair. Daphne is the ghost of a murdered woman. A murdered seven foot tall, kidnapping, denim-wearing murdered woman. Daphne was murdered, not because she was a psychopath, but because she didn’t want to play basketball, despite her size. Naturally, she now has a bone to pick with basketball players. The best way to conjure her is to merely think her name. So, when the members of the local high school girls basketball team have a sleepover the night before the years’ big game, Daphne’s name comes up. Main protagonist, Kit Lamb, makes a basket to win the game as she predicts that her win means that Daphne will kill her. One by one, her teammates and friends’ begin to die under mysterious circumstances, her fears only grow and she can;t seem to stop thinking about Daphne.
This book was very different from the other books by this author, both in style and in subject. Usually Mr. Malerman favors creatures. I welcomed the change. This book also showcased the thoughts of a main character who suffered greatly from anxiety and panic attacks. It was a very different view from the thoughts that are usually associated with this problem.
This book was a fantastic horror novel! I’ve come to expect nothing less from Josh Malerman.

I had no idea DAPHNE is a young adult novel with Fear Street-level writing - I think it's a mistake to market this as an adult book because it's written at a 7th grade reading level.

This would make a decent Blumhouse/Netflix/whatever horror movie but I found the book a little tedious - the characters were a bit thin and the action wasn't particularly scary. The writing feels a little choppy and redundant and I struggled through the endless journal entries.

If I were 12, it'd probably be very much my thing.

Don't say her name, don't even think it! Josh Malerman continues to be a master of unique horror in his newest ghost story, Daphne. This fast paced story follows our basketball playing heroine, Kit, as she and her group of friends experience Daphne in all her horrific glory.

I really enjoyed this book and feel like it offers a lot to a multitude of readers. Whether you want to read about a murder mystery, a small towns sordid history, or just are coming for a gory ghost story, Daphne offers all of if this. I found myself genuinely terrified while reading this and found myself racing to the finish to figure out what was going on.

You won't be disappointed with this novel by Josh Malerman! Check it out!

First I would like to give a huge thanks to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for sending me an ARC of this book!

I devoured Daphne over the course of one day. When I tell you this book is like mind candy I mean it in the best way possible. As a huge fan of horror flicks, this itched the scratch I had for a straight-up slasher. This book does incorporate some supernatural elements in it along with the typical slasher formula, and that is where I found its weaker spots. Though I believe that a book such as this doesn’t need to spoon-feed its reader’s information or treat us with too much care, Malerman could have supported us more when it came to the lore surrounding Daphne. We constantly were told that she was an outcast and her name would never leave you if you only heard it once, dooming you to an early grave. However, we get no inkling as to how she/her spirit is brought back from the dead or how she knows when you are thinking of her. This leads to the novel feeling a bit unsupported in the supernatural department. This is all not to mention that the ending is fairly rushed and feels extremely anti-climactic. Nevertheless, this book serves as a quick and fun spooky read that works in a pinch.
P.s. “Ballers” as a phrase will never not be funny to me. I simply can’t take it seriously, not Malerman’s fault though.
3.5/5

I definitely think this book is more YA than adult horror. I don't really feel like much happened in the book. I didn't think this was going to be completely character driven and I think that's why I didn't like it very much.

Book Review

Daphne by Josh Malerman
@JoshMalerman
Pub date: September 22, 2022

Let me tell you about Daphne. Her make-up skills rival even the most glam of Twisted Sisters, she wears denim – like, a lot of it, she’s socially awkward and stands as tall as the best seven footers in basketball. She reeks of cigarettes and alcohol, and oh yeah, she’s dead. To think of her is to give her evil spirit form and bring her very existence into life.

This is one of the most low-key scariest stories I’ve read this year. In true Malerman style, it plays on inner fears as much as outer. An urban legend come to life is pure reading enjoyment and for anyone with anxiety, it’s a great representation of an MC who struggles with mental health issues and I appreciate the realistic rep.
I’m keeping this short because I think the less a reader knows going in, the better.

My thanks to @RandomHouse for this gifted DRC.

This review is based upon an ARC received in exchange for a review on Netgalley.

We've come to expect interesting and intricate plots and well thought out characters from Mr. Malerman. Daphne is no exception, but we also get a revealing examination of dealing with anxiety that is, well, anxiety inducing.

Kit Lamb is a member of the high school basketball team. She should be riding on cloud nine given the finish of the last game of the season, but she is troubled. She is troubled by the usual problems of the potential loss of friends as they grow apart after school. She is troubled by panic attacks that are so bad that she once called 911 because she thought she was dying. And she is troubled by the specter of Daphne, someone from her town's past. Daphne -- the name which is not only not spoken, but which is actively forgotten by the townsfolk. Daphne -- the more you think about her, the closer she gets to you.

Daphne, who may be hunting and killing the members of the basketball team, including all of her friend. Including Kit herself.

Malerman weaves a blend of the supernatural and the psychological in a story which readers will find extremely difficult to put down.

Oh, Daphne. I loved this book sooo much. I always get excited about a new Josh Malerman book and this one was so, so awesome. This was such a fun slasher story. I loved how he incorporated anxiety into the story. It was almost like anxiety itself was a character. It was so lovely seeing mental health addressed in such a way in a horror story. Kit Lamb is such a fantastic and strong character. Her bravery was so damn inspiring. There was so much heart and soul in this story and at times I felt like Josh was speaking to me personally. The diary entries were so personal and true and I related so much to what Kit was saying and feeling. Also, Daphne’s presence was so terrifying in the best way. Living in a small town myself, I get how people will turn a blind eye to something and try to forget it even happened. I hope I didn’t give anything away here, I just really, really loved this book. I can almost see it being played out as a limited series. Hmm…maybe one day? Bravo, Josh Malerman. You’ve got a winner on your hands.


*Side note: I also loved the mentions of a certain small town!

I don’t THINK I spoiled anything, but I’m marking it just to be safe.

DAPHNE is a BAD Girl

DAPHNE kicks off with a basketball shot. I couldn’t help but think back to 2020 and Stephen Graham Jones’s THE ONLY GOOD INDIANS—my favorite read of that plague-ridden year. This book description starts “It’s the last summer for Kit Lamb…” It would be the last summer for so many of the Samhattan basketball team. That alone might be enough to hook you. It got me started.
Basketball was one of the sports I tried in my adolescence (and failed at miserably). Malerman takes this popular game youth and turns it sinister by adding a second game to the mechanics of it called “Ask the Rim.” It is a childhood game, something the girls of summer league basketball play. It is something akin to asking the Ouija questions about life and what the future holds. We’ve all played similar games. Unfortunately for the newly crowned star of the summer league, Kit Lamb, this game, the question she asked, and the answer given by the Net become terrifyingly intertwined with the local urban legend of Daphne.

This book hit all the right spots. And while I’m not a huge fan of slashers or the ‘final girl’ trope, this one was brilliant. Malerman is masterful in bringing all of these kids to life. The characters are real, their banter poignant, as far as high schoolers go. And through great storytelling, their reality will become your reality.

There are so many great lines in this book. This one, early on, was one of many that had me thinking. “Next is for whenever now needs a fucking change.” The release date for this book is in late August, but don’t wait. Preorder it. Don’t do it next. Do it now.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Ballantine for this ARC of Daphne by Josh Malerman.

I don't understand Josh Malerman. I loveloved House at the Bottom of the Lake, liked Inspection, Goblin was mediocre, Pearl was great...So hot and cold.

And then there's Daphne.

Daphne which is such a hot mess of totally off-kilter teenage girl narrative that I had to stop. Seriously, I was listening to Inspection audiobook on rotation with this Daphne e-arc, and where Inspection has some beautiful, quotable writing, Daphne is just...Ugh.

I don't understand half the dialogue or basketball talk. The journal sections are so disconnected from reality it's laughable. It's so tiresome that the creep factor falls flat.

Dang it, Malerman. I can't decide if he's on my favorites list or is the bookish equivalent of roulette.

This was a big ol' DNF for me at about 30% when NOTHING was happening and action sequences were becoming redundant.

Thanks Del Rey and NetGalley for a copy to read and review.

Daphne is newest horror book by Josh Malerman. In this novel, we follow Kit Lamb, a high school basketball player during the last summer before she goes off to college. When another player tells the team a local urban legend about a girl named Daphne, Kit starts to ask more questions about the story. It seems no one knows for sure what happened to Daphne-was she murdered? did she take her own life? or is she the murderer? All of a sudden, Kit’s team members start dying in unusual ways and Kit is convinced that they are being stalked by Daphne. Is Kit’s mind getting the best of her or does she know something the police force investigating the cases don’t know?

First thing first, this wouldn’t be a Josh Malerman book if I didn’t consider dnfing it in the first 25 percent. He writes in such a strange, almost disjointed way that is very unique to him. It always takes some time to get into it for me so I knew to keep pushing myself and I am so glad I did. This book was absolutely terrifying. I’m glad I read the last half of it during the day! Once you figure out what is going on, the book pulls you in and doesn’t let go.

Daphne as a legend is very creepy. She is seven feet tall and has crazy makeup on-“KISS” makeup as described by one character (I’m going to ignore that the PARENTS in this book say that KISS was before their time because it makes me feel incredibly old). It seems like anytime someone would talk about Daphne in the book, they would add something else about her which felt true to urban legends. I feel like any time you hear the same basic legend, someone adds their own twist.

I really loved this book. It started slow for me but once I got into it, I couldn’t put it down. This won’t be for everyone but if you like urban legends, slashers, and creepy vibes, I would definitely recommend it!

My first thought in reviewing this title is WOW, then HOLY S**T!
I was initially hesitant to read this book when I saw ‘high school girls’ basketball team’….in the description. But I loved Josh Malerman’s Bird Box and so I dove right in. I am so glad I did!

Kit Lamb, high school basketball star, is told a ghost story (urban legend) at a team sleepover. The story is about a girl named Daphne, who died mysteriously; was it suicide or murder? No one knows for sure. Legend has it that if anyone says her name or thinks about Daphne often, she will rise and wreak bloody havoc on those who do so.
As her teammates start dying horrible and gruesome deaths, Kit begins to think this story isn’t JUST a story and fears she will be next.
In a race against time, and hampered by crippling anxiety, Kit decides she is not going to just sit back helplessly and wait to be Daphne’s next victim. Can an evil ghost really commit murder? How far will Daphne go,to get revenge and who, if anyone, is helping her with her murderous obsession?
I loved this book so much - unforgettable and unputdownable, terrifying and redemptive. A+++

It was definitely creepy and well written. I've tried several horror novels over the years and I think they tend not to work for me because I feel like there is something I should be getting, that I just don't get. I'll read a passage, and know it's a big reveal moment or that it's a giant clue, and I just don't have that moment of clarity. And nothing I hate more than an "aha" moment that's more like a "huh???" in my brain. I guess I'm just not wired for horror.

Thank you Netgalley and Random House Publishing - Ballantine for this arc.

This was my first Malerman and I was hooked on it from page one. It was a solid 4.5 read for me. Daphne is a mix of ghost story, slasher, urban legend, and fanatics, all added in their right proportions. The anxiety — very well pointed out by the author — you feel reading this book is real. It builds up with every page you turn.

Daphne was a seven-foot-tall teenager who wore “KISS makeup” and was considered an outcast, or a freak. She was taunted her whole high school years by her classmates who insisted that she needed to join their high school basketball team, but Daphne had always refused. One day, she was attacked and knocked out by her classmates — who had never accepted her refusal — with a baseball bat and left in her car inside her garage to inhale her vehicle’s exhaust fumes.

And then Daphne started terrorizing the whole town of Samnhattan, specially the teen athletes of her high school basketball team. People could smell her cigarettes and booze, they could hear the stomp of her boots before they could see her. She becomes visible only for her victims. She does not speak, she kills. You can’t think about her, you can’t even say her name.

Daphne is not dead. Daphne lives.

Will Daphne kill me?

This novel is nerve-wrecking, heart-pounding, and blood-dripping. Daphne is terrifying and fascinating all at the same time. I loved how Malerman reveals Daphne’s background story, how she was in life and what happened to her. Her story is dark and brutal, and the author’s writing is vivid and intense. The only thing that I disliked a little bit was the ending. I wish it would have been different. But that is just a personal opinion. I am not the writer, this is not my book, so I accept the ending.

Daphne freaked me out. I would love to see this novel adapted into a movie or a series. I would recommend it to any horror reader.

This novel comes out on September 20th.

This is a great book to read at Halloween. Daphne is a 7 foot tall, cigarette-smoking ghost. This horror novel will keep you on the edge of seat, at least it will if you enjoy cheesy, horror novels, like i do. i recommend reading this in October, maybe with some candles or a flashlight to set the mood. you will be thinking about Daphne long after the book is done.

The night before their final basketball game Kit Lamb's friend tells an urban legend about a young woman from their town, Daphne, who died under mysterious circumstances. Like many urban legends, when you inadvertently summon them they come for you…think Bloody Mary or Candyman. Soon after, Kit's teammates start getting killed in a way eerily similar to how Daphne is said to murder her victims. Kit begins to believe the stories might be real and she must find the truth in the legend before she becomes Daphne’s next victim.

Daphne is a tale that blends a young woman's coming of age story with urban legend/slasher horror. The story is set in the same "universe" of Goblin as Malerman's other novels Goblin and Pearl. The story is told from the perspective of Kit Lamb, a young woman who struggles with anxiety, trying to enjoy her final days of high school and her last summer with friends before they all launch into their adult lives. It transitions between the main plot and Kit's inner dialogue as she writes in her journal. As much as I wanted to like this novel, it was my least favorite read from this author to date. There were a lot of things I didn't like about this one (basketball, the characters dialogue, Daphne's origin story, etc...) all of which just made this story really difficult for me to get through. That being said, I am in the minority of readers who didn't care for this one and there were plenty of readers who really enjoyed it...you can form your own opinion.

Blog post: https://www.instagram.com/p/Cfcy7Virbnp/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Daphne is a seven-foot-tall social outcast, blasting metal from her muscle car, lighting a cigarette even though your mom has asthma. Oh, and did I mention she’s a ghost?

When you think about Daphne, you summon her spirit. She targets basketball players to avenge her own death, wearing denim from head to toe, ready to strangle the next unlucky baller with her bare hands.

…don’t think about Daphne.

Josh Malerman’s ‘Daphne’ is an unconventional slasher novel. Take your traditional slasher and wipe away the brutal killings, then, interject the tale with a psychological element akin to Freddy Krueger. What you’re left with is a supernatural, elusive killing machine named Daphne haunting your mind.

‘Daphne’ tackles complex themes, such as mental health, specifically anxiety, maturity, and teamwork. The reader is lent an insight into our main baller, Kit’s, brain through her diary entries. Kit suffers from anxiety and panic attacks, getting in the way of enjoying monumental moments in her young life. The weight of her mental illness grows increasingly apparent (almost viscerally so) to the reader, as the legend of Daphne is running rampant through the town of Samhattan.

At the novel’s core, Anxiety is the main theme; Daphne is anxiety personified.

I really enjoyed this. It hit the right notes at the right time for me. ✨

I would recommend Daphne to those who like coming of age stories, fast paced reads and a good ol’ fashion killing.

5/5.

Expected Publication Date: September 20, 2022

Thank you to @netgalley and @penguinrandomhouse for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.